Rape: Sentencing Nick Herbert To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many of those convicted of rape in each of the last three years received (a) a determinate prison sentence, (b) a life sentence, (c) an indeterminate sentence for public protection and (d) any other disposal; and what was the average determinate sentence length and average tariff for life and indeterminate sentences. Mr. Straw I regret that not all the requested information is available. The available information is contained in the table. In particular, due to the nature of our current administrate systems it is not possible to calculate the average custodial sentence length for life and indeterminate sentences. In the light of the hon. Member’s question I have asked for further work to be done on sentencing estimates of indeterminate and life sentences. Figures for 2007 will be available from autumn 2008. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Defendants | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Offence |Year|Absolute discharge|Conditional discharge|Fine|Community sentence|Fully suspended sentence|Immediate custody|Average sentence length3|Life sentences4|Otherwise dealt with| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Rape2 |2004|2|2|—|16|—|713|85.1|62|9| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |2005|—|1|1|32|2|746|81.8|74|12| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |2006|1|1|—|40|—|803|81.2|202|17| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |1 Principal offence basis.2 Includes rape of a male and a female.3 Months. Excludes life and indeterminate sentences.4 Includes Indeterminate sentences for Public Protection (IPPs).Note:These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.Source:RDS-NOMS, Ministry of Justice 28 January 2008. Ref: PQ(RN)029-08| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------